Chapter 2 of The Well of the Saints is here in full — 239 sentences across 48 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of The Well of the Saints is here in full — 239 sentences across 48 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
MOLLY BYRNE. _hastily to Bride._ — Take the bell and put yourself by the stones. (_To Martin Doul._) Will you hold your head up till I loosen the cloak? (_She pulls off the cloak and throws it over her arm. Then she pushes Martin Doul over and stands him beside Mary Doul._) Stand there now, quiet, and let you not be saying a word.
Chapter 2 of The Well of the Saints is here in full — 239 sentences across 48 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/47 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
a woman who has recently been married
From this reading “_hastily to Bride._ — Take the bell and put yourself by the stones.”
anything that covers or conceals
From this reading “(_To Martin Doul._) Will you hold your head up till I loosen the cloak?”
make loose or looser
From this reading “(_To Martin Doul._) Will you hold your head up till I loosen the cloak?”
French bishop who is a patron saint of France (died in 397)
From this reading “(_To Martin Doul._) Will you hold your head up till I loosen the cloak?”
popular aquarium fish
From this reading “MOLLY BYRNE.”
plural of “pull” — the act of pulling; applying force to move something toward or with you
From this reading “(_She pulls off the cloak and throws it over her arm.”
plural of “push” — the act of applying force in order to move something away
From this reading “Then she pushes Martin Doul over and stands him beside Mary Doul._) Stand there now, quiet, and let you not be saying a word.”
plural of “throw” — the act of throwing (propelling something with a rapid movement of the arm and wrist)
From this reading “(_She pulls off the cloak and throws it over her arm.”
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading Then she pushes Martin Doul over and stands him beside Mary Doul._) Stand there now, quiet, and let you not be saying a word.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading _hastily to Bride._ — Take the bell and put yourself by the stones.
a human limb; technically the part of the superior limb between the shoulder and the elbow but commonly used to refer to the whole superior limb
From this reading (_She pulls off the cloak and throws it over her arm.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading Then she pushes Martin Doul over and stands him beside Mary Doul._) Stand there now, quiet, and let you not be saying a word.
a hollow device made of metal that makes a ringing sound when struck
From this reading _hastily to Bride._ — Take the bell and put yourself by the stones.
next to; at the side of
From this reading Then she pushes Martin Doul over and stands him beside Mary Doul._) Stand there now, quiet, and let you not be saying a word.
a woman who has recently been married
From this reading _hastily to Bride._ — Take the bell and put yourself by the stones.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading _hastily to Bride._ — Take the bell and put yourself by the stones.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading MOLLY BYRNE.
anything that covers or conceals
From this reading (_To Martin Doul._) Will you hold your head up till I loosen the cloak?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading (_To Martin Doul._) Will you hold your head up till I loosen the cloak?
in a hurried or hasty manner
From this reading _hastily to Bride._ — Take the bell and put yourself by the stones.
the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading (_To Martin Doul._) Will you hold your head up till I loosen the cloak?
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading (_She pulls off the cloak and throws it over her arm.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Then she pushes Martin Doul over and stands him beside Mary Doul._) Stand there now, quiet, and let you not be saying a word.
cause to continue in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g., “keep clean”
From this reading (_To Martin Doul._) Will you hold your head up till I loosen the cloak?
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading (_To Martin Doul._) Will you hold your head up till I loosen the cloak?
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading (_She pulls off the cloak and throws it over her arm.
used to make a suggestion or a command including the speaker
From this reading Then she pushes Martin Doul over and stands him beside Mary Doul._) Stand there now, quiet, and let you not be saying a word.
make loose or looser
From this reading (_To Martin Doul._) Will you hold your head up till I loosen the cloak?
French bishop who is a patron saint of France (died in 397)
From this reading (_To Martin Doul._) Will you hold your head up till I loosen the cloak?
the mother of Jesus; Christians refer to her as the Virgin Mary; she is especially honored by Roman Catholics
From this reading Then she pushes Martin Doul over and stands him beside Mary Doul._) Stand there now, quiet, and let you not be saying a word.
popular aquarium fish
From this reading MOLLY BYRNE.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading Then she pushes Martin Doul over and stands him beside Mary Doul._) Stand there now, quiet, and let you not be saying a word.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading Then she pushes Martin Doul over and stands him beside Mary Doul._) Stand there now, quiet, and let you not be saying a word.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading (_She pulls off the cloak and throws it over her arm.
above and across; more than
From this reading (_She pulls off the cloak and throws it over her arm.
plural of “pull” — the act of pulling; applying force to move something toward or with you
From this reading (_She pulls off the cloak and throws it over her arm.
plural of “push” — the act of applying force in order to move something away
From this reading Then she pushes Martin Doul over and stands him beside Mary Doul._) Stand there now, quiet, and let you not be saying a word.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading _hastily to Bride._ — Take the bell and put yourself by the stones.
characterized by an absence or near absence of agitation or activity
From this reading Then she pushes Martin Doul over and stands him beside Mary Doul._) Stand there now, quiet, and let you not be saying a word.
a word or phrase that particular people use in particular situations
From this reading Then she pushes Martin Doul over and stands him beside Mary Doul._) Stand there now, quiet, and let you not be saying a word.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading (_She pulls off the cloak and throws it over her arm.
be standing; be upright
From this reading Then she pushes Martin Doul over and stands him beside Mary Doul._) Stand there now, quiet, and let you not be saying a word.
plural of “stand” — a support or foundation
From this reading Then she pushes Martin Doul over and stands him beside Mary Doul._) Stand there now, quiet, and let you not be saying a word.
plural of “stone” — a lump or mass of hard consolidated mineral matter
From this reading _hastily to Bride._ — Take the bell and put yourself by the stones.
carry out
From this reading _hastily to Bride._ — Take the bell and put yourself by the stones.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading _hastily to Bride._ — Take the bell and put yourself by the stones.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading Then she pushes Martin Doul over and stands him beside Mary Doul._) Stand there now, quiet, and let you not be saying a word.
in or at that place or location
From this reading Then she pushes Martin Doul over and stands him beside Mary Doul._) Stand there now, quiet, and let you not be saying a word.
plural of “throw” — the act of throwing (propelling something with a rapid movement of the arm and wrist)
From this reading (_She pulls off the cloak and throws it over her arm.
up to a particular time
From this reading (_To Martin Doul._) Will you hold your head up till I loosen the cloak?
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading _hastily to Bride._ — Take the bell and put yourself by the stones.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading (_To Martin Doul._) Will you hold your head up till I loosen the cloak?
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading (_To Martin Doul._) Will you hold your head up till I loosen the cloak?
a unit of language that native speakers can identify
From this reading Then she pushes Martin Doul over and stands him beside Mary Doul._) Stand there now, quiet, and let you not be saying a word.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading (_To Martin Doul._) Will you hold your head up till I loosen the cloak?
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading (_To Martin Doul._) Will you hold your head up till I loosen the cloak?
used when the person spoken to is also the object of the action
From this reading _hastily to Bride._ — Take the bell and put yourself by the stones.
Chapter 2 of The Well of the Saints by J. M. (John Millington) Synge holds 239 sentences, grouped into 48 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the source edition, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 2 holds 239 sentences of The Well of the Saints, unabridged, divided into 48 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of The Well of the Saints by J. M. (John Millington) Synge exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 239 sentences, grouped into 48 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 48 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 48 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 2 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
Common questions about reading The Well of the Saints by J. M. (John Millington) Synge on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 956 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #1241 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #1241, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 79 minutes of reading across 192 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Well of the Saints section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 4 chapters of The Well of the Saints to begin.
Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in The Well of the Saints, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
